ALI

2001 BBC Four, 9pm

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A typically tough film from Michael Mann (Heat) and an electric performance from Will Smith make this the best biopic of Muhammad Ali to date. The director covers 10 years of Ali’s life – from his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam and opposition to the Vietnam War to his infidelities. But in spite of its thrills, and Smith’s best efforts, you sense that Mann’s task was too vast to pull off.